School of Secrets
by Ozlover
Summary: What happens when Buffy and Dawn get shipped off to boarding school? Includes most of the season 2 characters. Yeah...I'm really bad at summaries, so please just come on in and read it anyway. Also,thanx to dalmatiangrl2 for getting a name for this fic. S
1. Chapter 1 Of Sunsets and Stuffed Pigs

Currently Untitled.

A/N.PLEASE READSorry guys, I'm working on a title. Feel free to help out with that. Also, some of this stuff is going to be different than the show. Like for example, Buffy is 17 when she, Joyce and Dawn, move to Sunnydale. Also, Dawn is 15 while Buffy is 17, so yeah...that's different. Hope you like

BTW, this is dedicated to Angelzbabygrl, who's having a birthday today.(the tenth) Happy b-day!

Buffy Summers stared blankly out her bedroom window. She and her family had been living in the new house for seven-four hours for forty-eight minutes and...sixteen seconds according to Buffy's watch.

The setting sun cast orange rays of light across her face. She dreaded the thought of tomorrow, they day she and her fifteen year old sister Dawn were being shipped off to boarding school. Worst of all, they'd be coming in during the middle of the year, earning the age-old titles "The new girls". Being the Slayer shouldn't help things either.Hopefully she would be able to ignore that and get on with her new life.

Buffy let her mind wander back to her old home on the coast of California, right beside the ocean...She could imagine herself strolling on the beach, the waves crashing at the shore, the white foam tickling her bare feet. The soft breeze blew strands of blonde hair into her face. She brushed them away and looked down to see a small, brown sand piper running towards the ocean, then scampering back towards land when the tide rolled back in. Buffy smiled at the creature. Most of all, she could imagine that sunset, coming down to cares the ocean, setting an orange glow on the water...She smiled remembering the scene until she realized that the sunset she has been looking at before had sunken below the horizon.

"Buffy" Joyce's voice invaded the room. "You and Dawnie start packing your things for tomorrow"

A few moments later, Dawn appeared wearing a pink tank top and pink cloud pajama bottoms. Her long, brown hair was braided down her back. "Buffy" she inquired.

"Hmm" Buffy looked up to meet her sister's eyes

"Ummm...are you going to take Mr. Gordo with you tomorrow" Dawn asked quietly.

"Probably, why" Buffy questioned.

"Well...Because I was wondering if I could take him." Dawn replied hopefully.

Buffy smiled weakly at her younger sister. "Of course you can." Noticing Dawn's look, she added "Hey, it's nothing to be ashamed of. Mr. Gordo's helped me over the years, I'm sure he'll help you. Are you nervous too" Buffy asked as she moved closer to Dawn.

"Is it that obvious" Dawn asked as she brushed a stray piece of hair behind her ear..

"I am too. But at least we'll be going through it together" Buffy pulled her into a hug.

"Yeah, you're right.I don't know what I would do if you weren't going to be there." Dawn admitted.

"Hey, what are you packing" Buffy asked, trying to change the subject of tomorrow.

With that, the two sisters began to talk about clothes, fashion, normal girl stuff. Before long, the dreaded thoughts of tomorrow were the last things on their minds.

Hey, drop me a line, lemme know how this is going, thanx! ♥Ozlover


	2. Chapter 2 Rude Awakening

Chapter 2 - Rude Awakening

"Girls" Joyce chirped. "Time to get up"

"Huh, what?..." Buffy mumbled, wiping the sleep from her eyes. She glanced over at the clock on the dresser beside her. The blue, digital letters read "6:01AM". She sure seems happy to get us out of the house...Buffy thought.

"Why so early" whined Dawn who had fallen alseep on the purple bean-bag chair in Buffy's room. "Don't the classes start at ten" Dawn asked.

"They do. We're going early to take a tour of the campus and get you two rooms." Joyce replied.

"Buffy and I are gonna share a room, right" Dawn asked, a hint of fea showing in her voice. Buffy, who was absent-mindedly rubbing the sleep lines on her arms, looked up at the mention of her name.

"Most likley." Joyce answered. "Now get dressed and be down for breakfast." Joyce headed back downstairs.

Buffy grudgingly got out of bed and dissappeared into her closet. She reappeared wearing a light pink aeropostle tee-shirt and faded blue jeans. Dawn left the room to change as well.

Ten minutes later they headed downstairs and picked at their breakfast.

"What's wrong girls" Joyce asked with concern in her voice.

"Guess." was all Buffy said.

"Don't worry about today. I'm sure you'll make plenty of friends."

The sisters didn't respond, just coninued to idly pick at their food.

Buffy stared out the window and zoned out...

The next thing she knew, she was sitting in the front seat of her mother's jeep and they were pulling to a halt in front of a huge school campus.

Buffy unbuckled her seatbelt and hopped out of the car. All she could do was stare at the scene in front of her. The huge main building loomed over them, casting the campus in shadow. There were other building scattered across the campus, but that one huge building sent chills down her spine. Everything was still. She was guessing the students were still asleep.

A tall, pale man approached them. "Hello, I'm the principal of Sunnydale Academy, Mr. Gaffety. It's very nice to meet you." He stuck out his hand. Buffy and Dawn reluctantly shook it. " I run a very safe, very happy school. Remember it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile" He replied witha big, creepy grin on his face.

"This is gonna be fun..." Buffy mumbled under her breath.

Sorry about the short chapters. I'm trying to keep it light and I know that its taking a long time to get an actual point. But there is one, trust me. Its just easier for me to write it like this. Please have faith in me and trust me when I say that this will get better.


	3. Chapter 3 Roomates

Chapter 3 - Roomates

After a brief tour of the campus, Buffy Joyce, Dawn and Mr. Gaffety were heading towards Buffy and Dawn's dorm. Despite the old exterior of the biulding, the inside was pretty modern and nicely furnished.

"Alright, little missies, this will be your room. "Mr Gaffety shoved a brass key into a lock on a door labeled "115". The lock clicked and the principal pushed the door open, revealing a beautiful lavender colored room. Three small beds were lined up against the back wall. On the wall to the right of the beds was a door leading to a small bathroom. There was even a desk and a computer in one of the corners. Mr. Gaffety handed the pair of dorm keys to Buffy.

"Wow...It's really nice." Buffy said as she walked into the room.

"Yeah. But there's three beds. Why is that" Dawn asked.

"You will be recieving another roomate at 9:30.am." Mr. Gaffety replied.

"Another new student" Buffy inquired.

"No, just a student who requested a dorm change.We don't have a problem with that, now do we? Becuase I wnat everyone to be very, very happy and problem free here."

"No." Dawn replied quietly as she fiddled with her fingers.

Joyce, Buffy and Dawn said their goodbyes and began to unpack their belongings.

Buffy began to hum a tune while putting blue and purple sheets on her bed.

"What that tune from" dawn asked.

"Ya know...that song...The ankle bone's connected to the neck bone -no wait." Buffy giggled slightly.

"Buff, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you redefine the word 'blonde'." Dawn looked pitifully at her sister.

"I take that as a compliment." Buffy smiled goofily. "Hey, Mr. Gordo" Buffy snuggled the pink pig, then passed it to Dawn.

"Thanks, Buffy." Dawn replied gratefully. "Hey, it's almost 9:30. Our new roomate should be here soon."

A few moments later the door opened and a nervous looking redhead entered.

"Uhh, hi. I'm Willow."


	4. Chapter 4 Getting To Know Each Other

Chapter 4 - Getting to know Each Other

"Oh, hey." Buffy replied cheerily. "Oh, here. Lemme help you with that." Buffy walked over to Willow and took one of her bags.

"Thanks."

"No problem. I'm Buffy and this is my sister, Dawn." Buffy stuck out her and Willow shook it.

"Hi."Dawn smiled and also shook Willow's hand.

"So. We hear you requested a room change." Buffy said trying to spark a conversation.

"Yeah. My two roomates were always partying and drinking. Sometimes they even brought the parties to the dorm. As sooon as I started failing biology, I knew I needed knew roomates. " Willow repiled.

"I see. Don't worry. We're not big with the partying lately. Besides, I wanna keep my grades up to avoid my mother's 'I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed' speech." Buffy replied.

"So, did you just move to Sunnydale?" Willow asked as she unzipped her suitcase.

"Yeah. We used to live in Los Angelus, right on the coast of California. We went to the beach, like every day." Dawn smiled remembering those days.

"Sounds nice. I wish Sunnydale was that nice. It's so dull here." Willow sighed.

The girls continues to talk and bond until ten o'clock rolled around and they headed off to classes.

The first day in classes were pretty much hell for Dawn and Buffy. It included the basic things. -Standing up in front of the class, saying their hobbies and loads of catch up work and assignments. All three of them were relieved when the day ended at five oclock and they retired to their dorm to chat more.

"So, we met Xander and Cordelia, right?" Dawn asked as she flopped on her bed.

"Yeah."

"I like them. And Xander's pretty cute." Dawn replied with a sly grin. Buffy playfully tossed a purple pillow at her head.

"What! He was..." Dawn defended.

"Sooooooooo, what about you, willow? Got a boyfriend?" Buffy asked with a grin. Willow flushed slightly.

"Noooo." She replied.

"But there's someone...I can tell. Spill. Now." Buffy hopped onto Willow's bed with Dawn close behind. They were bonding so quickly.

"There's one guy..." Willow trailed off, still smiling.

"Name, age, description!" Buffy squealed.

"His name's Oz, and I don't know how old he is. He's in a band -Well sorta. The band's a work in progress...He plays the guitar...kinda short, but he has really nice hands." Willow gushed.

"Oooh! Have you talked to him?" Buffy asked excitedly.

"Well...no." Willow admitted.

"That's okay. You will whe you're ready. Which better be soon, cuz I'm happily in the land of Single-ville and I need happy, mushy details." Buffy replied.

"Next subject." Willow said.

"Xander!" Dawn chirped.

"Not much to say about him...his family's pretty poor...But he rarely ever sees them anyway." replied Willow

"Poor? Then how can he afford to come here?" Dawn asked while munching on some chips from the vending machine down the hall.

"Apparently he has a rich aunt or something like that."

"What about Cordelia?" Buffy asked.

"Well...she's pretty much the opposite of Xander...except for the fact that they both never see their parents."

"They both seem nice." Dawn mumbled with her mouth full.

"They are. Except Cordelia is very moody. Just a heads up. She can get pretty scary at times." Willow warned.

"One more thing though." Buffy started."What do you know about Principal Gaffety? He gives me a grade "A" case of the wiggins." Buffy asked.

"Actually, there's a lot of rumors going around about him." Willow. "One is that when he was little his parents abused him. And that when he was seven, his dad killed his mom and just left." Willow paused for a reaction.

"Wow."

Then she continued."And you know how there's trees all over the the campus?" A nod from both the girls." People who were here last year said that when he became the principal, those trees weren't there. They say he freaked out and planted them everywhere because he doesn't like the sun. That's why he's so pale."

"Freaky." Dawn replied.

Later that night when the girls were asleep, Bufffy lay in her bed tossing and turning, twisiting herself up n the purple sheets. She couldn't get comfortable. She kept...Was tingling a good word for it? She was tingling. After an hour or so of fidgeting, she finally fell into a restlesss,uneasysleep.


	5. Chapter 5 Discoveries

a/n -Words inside the " ♦'s" are thoughts. yes, it's odd. I can't find anything that won't disappear from the text. ☺☺☺☺

Chapter 5 -Discoveries

The end of school bell rang and Dawn trudged out of her Algebra class. Her head was throbbing from all the useless junk crammed into it. She rubbed her temples as she slowly walked on. Not paying attention to where she was going, she bumped right into a girl who was walking in the opposite direction.

"Ooh! Sorry." Dawn apologized as she stooped to pick up her Algebra book.

"It's okay."

Dawn looked up to see a mousy-looking girl. Her dirty blonde hair was tied into a long pony-tail down her back. She had large, frightened looked light brown eyes. The girl's outfit was way out of style. She wore a baggy purple polo shirt, that was buttoned all the way up, a plaid skirt that was pulled up way too high and a pair of purple and white striped knee socks.

"Uh, my name's Dawn." Dawn replied politley.

"I'm Shelby. Nice to meet you." The girl replied hurriedly. She tried to push past Dawn.

"Hey, wait!" Dawn called after her. "You forgot this." Dawn handed her a pink book that appeared to be a journal of some sort.

"Thanks." Shelby looked at her feet shyly.

"So, is this your first year at Sunnydale Academy too?" Dawn asked, looking over at Shelby.

"Uhh...Why are you talking to me?" Shelby aksed with an almost amazed expression on her face.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Dawn asked, confused.

"Well...I'm not popular...And not many people talk to me." Shelby replied quietly.

"Well, I'll be your friend and talk to you." Dawn replied warmly.

Shelby looked up and smiled. "Thanks." She replied shyly. "It means alot."

"Hey, what's your dorm number? Mine's 115" Dawn asked.

"Uh..345"

Dawn pulled out a pink pen and scribbled the number on the palm of her hand.

"Well, this is my stop. I'll talk ot you later." Dawn replied.

"Bye." Shelby said with a smile.

Dawn unlocked the door and stepped into the room.

"Buffy? Willow?" Dawn called.

No answer.

"Huh. I guess they're still out." Dawn's eyes wandered to a beautiful, handcarved, mahogany dresser. She meandered over to it and brushed her fingers against the smooth surface. Her fingers wrapped around one of the drawer handles.♦If Buffy or Willow hasn't claimed this yet, I will♦Dawn pulled the drawer open. Empty. ♦Yes! Wait a second...♦Dawn scanned the inside of the drawer, when something shiny caught her eye. It was a ring. She picked it up and turned it around in her fingers. It was a brilliant blue with flecks of dark and light purple. The stone was incased with a broad silver band.

"Wow." Dawn whispered, amazed by it's beauty. ♦Maybe I should show Buffy...♦Dawn thought for a moment. ♦Nah, she'd probably try to steal it.♦Dawn shoved the ring into her suitcase. She'd wear it later. Now, it was time to do her Algebra homework and try not to fail.

♦Meanwhile, outside on the campus...♦

Buffy and Willow were relaxing under a tree, trying to study for the biology test next week. The didn't tell, Dawn, but they knew she would be fine.

"There he is." Willow whispered.

Buffy looked up. "Who? Where?" she asked, her eyes darting around the campus.

" Oz.There." Willow tried to point at him discreetly.

"Oh. I see him. He is pretty cute. But I like his friend more." Buffy motioned to the guy standing next to Oz. He was tall -taller than Oz anyway, he had dark, soulful eyes and had dark brown hair that shone in the sun.

"What's his name?" Buffy asked, trying not to drool while looking at him.

"Uhm..his name is...something with an "A" I think. All I know is he's best friends with Oz." Willow replied.

"We _need_ to go talk to them." Buffy squealed.

"Right now? Uh...I-I can't..." Willow babbled nevously.

"Okay, okay. We can wait until the right time. But they have to be together when we talk to them. 'Cause it's easier that way." Buffy stated.

"Okay...Let's try to study now." Willow suggested.

"Good idea." The two girls dropped their longing gazes arcoss campus and started to study.

♦Meanwhile, over by the guys...♦

"Do you see her?"

"Uhm...no. Where are you looking?"

"Right there."

"Oh yeah. I like her hair."

"Me too." Oz sighed.

"Just talk to her." Angel prodded.

"How?" Oz asked.

"Well, you open your mouths and the words should come out..." Angel replied.

Oz sighed. "Not like that."

"I know, I know...You just have to do it." replied Angel. "By the way, do you even know her name?"

"No...not yet. and the fact that I'm in a band doesn't help." Oz replied.

"Why not?"

"Because she'll probably think I just want her as a groupie and to have sex with her. And that's not what I want."

" Sorry, I can't help you there. Do you know who she's talking to?" Angel asked.

"She's a new student, I think. And I'm pretty sure she's my girl's roomate? Why?" Oz asked.

"Uh...Just wondering." Angel replied. "And since when is she 'your girl'?" Angel asked.

"Since I don't know what else to call her." Oz said.

"How about...Red?" Angel asked.

Oz thought about it. "No...Whenever I think of red, I automatically think of skittles for some reason. Red ones are the best."

"You need help." Angel looked at Oz pitfully.

Oz shrugged and they headed back to their dorm.

☺☻☺☻☺☻☺☻☺☻☺☻☺☻

Hey! Plz lemme know if you like this so far! Thanx! ☺☻☺☻ -Smilies, Ozlover ♥♥♥


	6. Chapter 6 A Mystery

a/n Again. "♦" for the thoughts.

Chapter 6 A Mystery

Buffy lay in bed that night, tossing and turning. She couldn't seem to get comfortable. She'd been tingling every night. Tonight it was so bad that it was almost and itching feeling all over. She finally gave up on the idea of sleep and sat up in her bed. She looked around. Willow and Dawn were both sound asleep. She carefully untangled the sheets from around her and quietly stepped out of bed.

She glanced over at the clock. It read 11:39 PM. Buffy was well aware of the 10:00 curfew, but chose to ignore it. She was wearing pj's so she slipped into a pair of light blue sweatpants and a navy blue wife beater. She crept over to the door and quietly slipped out of the room.

She paused after exiting the room. She tried to feel which direction she should go. She finally decided to turn left and head towards the east wing, which was currently closed off for "construction and renovation purposes". Or so she was told. When she reached the end of the corridor, she tried the double doors. They were unlocked. ♦Odd...♦She thought. On the other side of the double doors was a ribbon of yellow tape reading "keep out". She easily ripped it in half and continued on to a small concrete sidewalk. She went left from the double doors, following the sidewalk until she started hearing strange noises. She stopped dead in her tracks and hid behind a wall. Peeking over the wall, she saw a courtyard overrun by vines and other various weeds. She couldn't see much. There was a thick, stickyblanket of fog surrounding the area. She could also make out two figures standing fairly close to one another. One had shackles and chains around it's wrists.

Buffy squinted her eyes and tryed harder to focus on the scene in front of her. She could see a cage with green vines twisted around the bars. She could make out something inside the cage. She couldn't tell if it was a human or not, though. She looked next to the cage and saw these...things slithering towards the cage

Buffy blinked her eyes in disbelief. It looked like something out of a warped thirty's horror movie. The things writhed and squirmed on the ground, crawling towards the cage in desperation. After staring for what seemed like forever, she turned to leave, seeing as the mysterious figures weren't doing anything new. She quietly tip-yoed back into her dorm and slid into bed. When she finally fell alseep, she had no answers for anything she saw.

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OoOoOoOh, arrows...prettiful...oh! Ok, I'm here. Plz review and let me know if you like it. And also, thanx to everyone who has reviewed so far. You guys rock! ♪♪♪OoOoOoOhhh! Musical notes! How amusing...

♥Ozlover


	7. Chapter 7 Reality Check

Chapter 7 - Reality Check

Dawn rounded the corner in the hallway on her way to the cafeteria. When she entered the room, she spotted Shelby sitting by herself. She headed over to where she was sitting, dropped her books on the table and sat down next to her.

"Hey." Dawn greeted.

"Oh, hi."

"Um, how'd you do on that Algebra test?" Dawn asked nervously

" I failed..."

"Me too." Dawn laughed in spite of the situation.

They talked during the rest of the lunch period then headed off for their other classes.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦That Night...♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Buffy lay awake in bed, waiting until she knew Dawn and Willow were sleeping. She didn't bother to change this time. She sneaked out of the room and headed straight for the east wing. Her bare feet smakcked against the tiled floor as she jogged to the place where she had been the night before.

When she reached the double doors, she opened them quietly and stepped out into the chilly autumn air. She quickly turned and started to head down the narrow sidewalk. She was caught offguard when she bumped into someone who was apparently just standing in the middle of the sidewalk.

"Oh! S-sorry." Buffy studdered in shock.

The person turned around to face her. "It's alright."

Buffy's mind went into overdrive. This is the guy! The one that hangs out with Oz!

"What are you doing here?" The man asked.

"I-I, uh.." Buffy trailed off.

"Nevermind. I already know."

"Wait, what? Who are you?" Buffy asked.

"My name is Angel, and you are?..."

"Buffy. Or do you already know that too?" Buffy quipped.

"No...I think we got off on the wrong foot." Angel apologized.

Buffy crossed her arms over her chest. "Ya think? I want to know why you think I'm out here." Buffy demanded.

"We both know why. You can't just forget your calling...Your destiny. Being the Slayer. You can't ignore it. That's why you're here." Angel replied.

"What did you call me?" Buffy asked demandingly.

"The Slayer." Angel said. His face showed no emotion.

"I don't know what you're talkling about." Buffy defended.

"Fine. Deny it. I just hope you'll be ready to accept it when it matters most."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Buffy snapped.

Angel ignored her and just turned and continued down the sidewalk to the courtyard.

"Yeah, well, just to let you know, I was out here to get some air!" Buffy called back to him. "And now I have air, so...I'm leaving!"

He was already gone.

Buffy thought briefly about her pitiful comeback, then headed back to her dorm in a huff. Who was this Angel and how did he know her? More importantly, how did her know about her being the Slayer? She pondered whether or not to tell Dawn about what happened. She decided against it. Dawn wasn't good with secrets. So Buffy kept it all inside and once again, fell into a restless, dreamless sleep.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Hey! Please review and let me know how this is going. Cuz I forgot to mention that this entire plot came from a psychotic dream I had...And thanx to everyone that has reviewed so far. Yay! lol

♥Ozlover


	8. Chapter 8 New Friends

♦ thoughts. Any questions? lol

Chapter 8 New Friends

The bell for lunch rang and Dawn swiftly exited the class she was in. She was supposed to meet Shelby at the table by the window in the cafetria, so they could eat lunch together. She was almost to her destiation when a dark shadow loomed over her. She looked up to see the pale, haggard looking Mr Gaffety.

"Uh, hi." Dawn replied nervously.

"Hello, Ms. Summers. I trust you haven't had a hard time fitting in here, am I right?" Principal Gaffety asked.

"N-no, sir - I mean, yes, you're right..." Dawn studdered.

"Good, then...'" Mr Gaffety's eye caught something glint on Dawn's finger. It was a purple ring. He looked at it almost desperatly.

"Ok, bye Mr. Gaffety." Dawn said hurriedly. She turned on her heel and walked quickly to the cafeteria.

Dawn entered the cafeteria and spotted the table they were to meet at. It was empty. ♦Huh, I guess she's late♦Dawn headed over there to put her books and things on the table to reserve it while she got her lunch. But as soon as she set here things down, a group of girls Shelby onced reffered to as "the popular girls" came up to her.

"Are these seats taken?" One of the three girls asked.

Dawn was afraid to say they were. "Um..no."

"Cool. By the way, my name's Jaime." The first girl introduced herself. Jaime had long, black layered hair and pale white skin, which complemented her piercing green eyes.

"Hi, I'm Dawn." Dawn greeted. The girls smiled at her.

"And my name is Shauna." replied a girl with mid-length wavy, light brown hair and brown eyes.

"And my name is Casey." Casey had shoulder length, blonde hair that looked slighly fried from too much hair dye. She had friendly blue eyes.

"Well, I was just about to get my lunch, and -" Dawn started.

"We'll come with you." Casey cut in.

"Ok." Dawn smiled and they headed for the lunch line. Dawn didn't know why Shelby seemed to hate them so much. They seemed really nice to her. When they returned to the table they started talking about boys and the hotties in their classes.

"Oh my gosh, Dave is soooo fine." Shauna sighed dreamily.

"I know. He sits behind me in Algebra." Dawn replied with just a little pride in her voice. The three other girls gasped.

"Lucky!" Casey exclaimed.

Dawn liked being a girly-girl and gossiping about guys. It brought back memories of her life in LA. She wasn't all that popular in LA, but her and her friends always talked about guys. The girls continued to giggle and didn't notice someone come up to their table.

"Hey, Dawn. W-what's going on?" Shelby asked.

Dawn stifled her giggles and looked up to see a hurt looking Shelby.

"U-uh..." Dawn replied, unsure of what to say.

"There's no more seats over here. You'll have to find somewhere else to sit. " Jaime replied with a small sneer. "Right girls?" Shauna and Casey nodded. All three of them looked at Dawn expectantly.

"Yeah. You snooze you lose, right?" Dawn replied a little nervously. Jaime, Shauna and Casey smiled in approval.

Casey turned and sped off quickly to hide the tears that were falling down her face. In a matter of moments she disappeared from the cafeteria. Dawn had a sick feeling in her gut about what she did to Shelby, but it quickly wore off when she and her new freinds continued their earlier conversation.


	9. Chapter 9 An Invitation

Chapter 9 - An Invitation

A/N - Yes, there has been mentions of skittles in this story- why not let there be more? heehee.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

After exchanging dorm numbers with Jaime, Shauna and Casey, they invited Dawn to a party in the school's basement.

_"Be there at nine on Saturday night," Jaime told Dawn._

_"Are you sure no one knows about these parties?" Dawn asked._

_"Positive, The principal and staff couldn't be more oblivious."_

_"Ok, see you later."_

Dawn recalled their earlier conversation. She slid her key into the lock, only to find the door already open, so she slipped inside.

"Hey Dawn." Willow greeted.

"Hey, Willow. Where's Buffy?"

"Out satisfying her snack food cravings." Willow replied.

"They oughta just give her that vending machine." Dawn joked.

"Or at least put her name on it." Willow smirked.

The girls were startled by sudden hammering and drilling noises outside.

"What's that?" Dawn asked. Willow shrugged and they both headed to the window to look. Four construction workers were working on putting something on the campus.

Just then Buffy burst through the room door balancing various candy bars and snacks in her arms. "What's that noise? Are they putting that new sign thingy in?" Buffy asked.

"I guess. That's what it looks like." Dawn replied. Buffy dropped her snacks on her bed and headed over to the window. A crane drove up and the workers attached it to the sign and pulled it upright, revealing what it said.

"Can you read it?" Willow asked. The sign was at an angle to their window.

"Uh..." Buffy strained her eyes. "I think it says...'Welcome to Sunnydale Academy...If you are willing to learn, we are willing to teach.' "

"It's kinda nice." Willow replied.

"And it's made of that pretty, silver marble stuff." Dawn commented.

"Hey, throw me a bag of skittles, please." Willow replied. Buffy tossed a bag across the room to Willow.

"Thanks. I like the red ones. They're the best." Willow replied before popping one in her mouth.

" I agree." Buffy smiled.

"No, green is the best!" Dawn ripped open a bag of skittles and threw one at Buffy. A war of skittles began and the three girls chucked them across the room, aiming at each other, but rarely hitting their targets. After the war, they slumped around the room, picking up various colored skittles and throwing them away.

"That was fun." Buffy replied grinning.

"And tiring." Dawn said as she flopped onto the skittle-free bed, exausted after cleaning up.

"I guess there's nothing left to do but study..." Willow remarked, sadly. The two sisters nodded in response.

Meanwhile in Mr. Gaffety's Office...

There was a small knocking sound at the principal's door.

"Come in." He replied.

A scrawny looking male secretary nervously edged into the room.

"W-we may have some news," He studdered.

Mr. Gaffety looked up. "Go on," He prodded.

"Well, rumor has it that a party will be taking place in the basement under the main hall this Saturday around nine P.M.." The man said. "S-sir,"He added nervously.

"Good," Mr. Gaffety grinned widely, tapping his fingers together. "Very good."

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/

Go on, review...You know you want toooooooooooo...(Please?) Yes...the skittles...


	10. Chapter 10 Unwelcome Visitors

Chapter 10 Unwelcome Visitors

A/N: I know, I know, Willow's style in clothing has changed...But this is my fic. So, it's either my way or the highway...I've always wanted to say that.

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At 10:30 P.M., the girls said their good-nights and headed to bed. Each had at least one test the next day and they needed all the rest they could get. Little did they know that one curious, brunette vampire stood in front of the new sign on campus. She studied it until it finally clicked. A silly grin spread across her pretty face- until it morphed into that of a hideous creature of the night's, that is.

The she-vamp made a dash toward the double doors of the main building. They were locked, seeing as the campus curfew began half an hour ago. She cursed under her breath, until she remembered she had super-strength. She was new to being a vampire and was ready to enjoy the satisfaction of her first kill. She pushed all her weight on the two doors until she heard a nice crack and they shot open. She covered her ears, expecting a blaring alarm to go off, but was surprised-and pleased- when there was none.

She made her way through the halls, searching for the right dorm door to rip open and feed off whoever was inside. There was rumor going around the undead population that the Slayer was staying there. The vamp was determined to find her, and kill her, proving her worth.

She stopped at room 115. This was it. She could feel it. She just knew. What she didn't know was that the Slayer suddenly bolted upright in bed, sensing the vamp's pressence. Again, the she-vamp applied pressure to the locked door and it popped open.

Buffy was waiting.

She had pulled a stake out from under her bed, and was waiting in a fighting stance when the door flung open. Being light sleepers, Willow and Dawn woke immediately.

Seeing the vampire's twisted, evil face, Dawn let out an ear-piercing scream. Willow, on the other hand, was too shocked to say a word.

Buffy threw a hard punch at the vampire's head. The vamp ducked and spat: "So, I take it you're the Slayer? Cool."

"Yup, it's a walk in the park!" Buffy grunted as she jumped up and kicked the vamp in the jaw, knocking it backwards. It tumbled out of the door and into the hallway. Then it recoiled and shot back into the room, shoving Buffy backwards and onto her bed. The vamp got on top of her and placed her hands around Buffy's neck in a death-grip. The vampire was strong, but Buffy managed to choke out a strangled "help!".

Dawn was there in a second, with the stake Buffy had dropped earlier. She gripped it tightly in her hand. She had only staked a vampire once before. She hoped it was enough. With all her strength, she plunged the piece of wood into the brunette-vamp's back, aiming for the heart. Dawn hoped she hit the target. The vampire's eyes grew wide with surprise and pain before it exploded into little pieces of dust that proceeded to rain down on them.

Buffy coughed and sat up on the bed. "Thanks." She said as she rubbed her already bruising neck.

For a split second, she wondered what it would be like to have a Watcher around. He would be there to ask things like 'what happened?' and 'how do we keep this from hapening again?'. But Buffy didn't have a Watcher. She used to have one. His name was Rupert Giles. He was the best Watcher a Slayer could ask for. Everything was great until he was murdered. Not even by a vampire. Just a regular old murderer. For some reason, she wasn't sent a new Watcher. And she didn't know how to contact The Counsel. So she fared on her own.

"W-What?..." Willow asked in awe.

"Uh...we have some explaining to do." Buffy said apologetically.

"I'll say" Willow replied.

Buffy and Dawn sat Willow down and explained the whole thing to her.

"Why didn't you tell me?" A hint of sadness was in her voice.

"We didn't want to put you in danger." Buffy replied sincerely."Friends being in danger is uber-bad." Dawn nodded for emphasis.

Willow still felt a little betrayed, but she understood why they didn't want to tell her.

"So are we good?" Buffy asked.

"We're great." Willow and Buffy embraced quickly. Dawn glanced at the digital clock on the dresser.

"It's 11:30P.M., and tests are tomorrow. Let's call it a night." Dawn suggested.

"Good idea. We can let someone know about the broken lock tomorrow." Willow replied.

The girls re-said their good-nights and headed to bed again.

\/\/\/\/\/\/

The soft strains of music floated in through the slightly open dorm door. Willow sat up groggily in bed. She looked over at the clock. It was 1:30 A.M.

/♦Do people want me to fail this test tomorrow?♦/ She wondered. /♦Well, today, techinally.♦/ She corrected herself. Curiosity overcame her crankiness and she decided to see where the music was coming from. She pulled on a pair of nicely fitting, faded blue jeans and a soft, pink cami that was outlined in tiny, white beads. She slipped on a pair of pink flip-flops and quietly headed out.

Her ears told her that the music was coming from somewhere to her left. She traced the music to a hallway, that was a pretty good ways from hers, lined with off-white lockers. Even though the school had dorms, lockers were a necessity, because one couldn't stop at their dorm between every class.

Willow saw a boy with a guitar sitting on the white, tiled floor by the lockers. His back was facing towards her, but she could see his spiky, strawberry-blonde hair, and she knew who it belonged to -Oz. She felt butterflies flutter in her stomach. She wanted to talk to him, introducer herself, tell him how great he played, tell him how great his hands were...But she decided against it. What if he didn't like her? What if he thought she was a crazy stalker? No, that was definately not good. She needed the right time, and the right situation. Then she would approach him. But as for now, she just slowly backed away, trying not to draw attention to her presence. She wanted to linger there longer ; he was such a wonderful guitarist. But she continued to back up, his beautiful guitar chords were becoming fainter by the second. As she rounded the corner, he was no longer in her line of vision. She turned aound a few more corners on her way back to room 115.

Suddenly, a blur of blonde ran smack dab into her and knocked her over, and kept going.

"Hey! You can at least apologize!" Willow shot back at the figure, who was still on it's way down the hall. It stopped abruptly and turned around. It was a tall, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, teenage girl.

"Oops! Sorry. I'm in such a hurry! One of the members of Dingoes Ate My Baby is HERE! I LOVE that band!" She squeaked a little too excitedly.

/♦Oh, great, a groupie...♦/ Willow internally groaned.

The blonde groupie was about to rush down the hallway in search of Oz, when she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face Willow.

"You...You're a human!" She squealed, pointing at Willow. Willow suddenly had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. This couldn't be good.

The girl's face morphed into that of a vampire's. Buffy told her she had to stake a vampire in the heart, with a piece of wood. But it wasn't like people carry those around!

/♦Well...maybe Buffy...♦/ Willow was snapped out of her thoughts when the blonde vamp charged at her. She suddenly found herself at a loss for direction. She couldn't remember where her dorm was, or which hallway she came from. So she surged forward, just missing the perfectly manicured claws of the vampire.

Apparently, another vamp got curious of the sign out front. As the vamp charged after her, she screamed. "We didn't get a chance to exchange names! My name is Harmony! Wait up! I won't bite...hard!"

Willow ignored her and continued to charge forward. She was finally gaining some distance from the she-vamp, who was lagging behind. They were about two hallways apart now, but Willow was sure that she could..smell her or something.

Willow turned her head and glanced back. Without warning she smacked into someone else as she rounded a corner. Both her and the other person fell to the ground.

"Sorry!" Willow replied frantically. She looked up to see who she had hit...Oz. Figures. She nervously net his gaze. Their eyes locked. This was the girl Oz had been looking for! His eyes quickly scanned over her. She was beautiful. Willow watched his eyes flow over her and she felt a blush creep up into her cheeks. It was a wonderful feeling- until she remebered she was being chased by an insane vampire.

Willow scrambled to her feet. Then she remembered Oz. She couldn't just leave him there at the mercy of that psychotic vampire groupie. She pulled Oz to his feet, and impulsively took him by the hand and led him into a small, dark, hallway. She backed up into the wall and pulled Oz up against her, in hopes of making them temporarily invisible to the crazed she-vamp.

She closed her eyes, praying that the vampire was too ditzy to see them, and that Oz's black shirt would cover any traces of her pink cami, making them even less noticeable. Her head was spinning and she was feeling dizzy just thinking about how close she was to him. Her face was reddening fast, and in an attempt to stop it, she tried to ignore it. So, she just stood there with her eyes closed ;her heart was throbbing so loud she was sure Oz could hear it.

All the while, Oz was just gazing at her, in a state of wonder. She looked gorgeous with her eyes closed too. On a wave of courage, he leaned down and kissed her. Willow was so shocked she forgot to respond. When she did, the kiss lasted for about two minutes. But in both of their books, it was the best two minutes of their lives. When Willow heard 'Harmony' ,as she had called herself, stomp by in her pink stilletos, she tensed up and pulled Oz even closer to her.

"Where are you? Where's the band member! Band member? I just want to touch youuuuuuuu!" She cried frantically. Soon, the clomping of feet grew fainter and fainter. Willow ket out a deep breath she didn't know she was holding in. Willow knew she should go after her and stake out, or something, but she didn't seem like much of a threat. Besides, Willow didn't want to be anywhere but there.

Oz slowly backed up from her and clreared his throat. "Uh, was that a vampire? You can tell me I'm crayz if you want.." Oz trailed off.

"Yeah,...I'll have my friends explain it to you better in a second, but first, I'd kinda like to know your name." Willow replied shyly. She already knew his name, of course, she just wanted him to tell her himself.

"I'm Oz, and you are?"

"Willow" She smiled at him.

/♦Willow...I like it. It suits her.♦/ Oz thought, as he too smiled. They made small talk on the way to Willow's dorm room.

/♦Buffy and Dawn are gonna kill me for this...♦/ Willow thought nervously.Oz was about to speak when she held up a finger to her lips.

Oz made a questioning face and jerked his thumb in the direction of the broken lock and doorknob. Willow mouthed the words 'I'll tell you later.' Oz nodded as they headed into the pitch-black room. Willow quietly walked over to Buffy's bed and placed a gentle hand on her arm.

Buffy shot up in the bed and scrambled to turn on the purple lamp beside her. When light flooded the area around her, Buffy loosed up, realizing it was just Willow. Then she saw Oz. Knowing Willow's feelings for him, she tried to hide a small smile. Then she realized it was 2:00 in the morning and became suspicious.

"What's going on?" Buffy asked, lookibg utterly confused. Dawn awoke at the sound of Buffy's voice. She looked around and decided it would be best to keep quiet for once. Willow explained to Buffy how she woke up, wandered the halls, had an encounter with Harmony, and literally ran into Oz. She didn't give any details of that, but her silly grin promised there would be some later.

Buffy, Willow and Dawn explained the whole hellmouth thing to Oz. It was almost like deja vu. At the end of the little 'talk' Oz seemed fine. Just as cool and collected as he did before. Buffy smiled slightly. He seemed good for her, yet Buffy couldn't help feeling jealous that she hadn't even remotely found someone yet. She dismissed the thought, and continued feeling happy for her red-headed friend.

Willow walked Oz to the door and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. They had already exchanged room numbers and planned on eating lunch together tomorrow. After saying their goodbyes Oz left and Willow went back into the room.

The girls said their goodnights for the third time that night, and headed to bed. In a matter of moments, all three were fast asleep.

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Yes, it was fluffy...I can't help it...Please review! Thanx.


	11. Chapter 11 Not a Nightmare

Chapter 11- Not a Nightmare

Willow trudged toward her dorm room. It was five o'clock and the school day was officially over. She hadn't failed her Biology test, amazingly. She got B+ actually, but she was still feeling grumpy about the fact that she didn't ace it. Then she thought back to the lunch period she shared with Oz. She couldn't keep a silly grin from spreading across her face. By the tiem she reached room 115, she was wearing a huge, sparkling smile. She opened the brand new doorknob and slid into the room.

Buffy looked up from her position on the bed. She was sprawled out on her stomach reading over her Chemisty book. Buffy could see Willow practically glowing.

"Tell me..." Buffy mock-threatened. "You know I need details- Including the ones from last night..." She smiled slyly.

Willow felt her cheeks flush, but she couldn't keep the juicy details all to herself, she she dove onto the bed beside Bufy and spilled everything about last night and their lunch date that day.

Buffy squealed in delight when Willow told her about how Oz kissed her. "He sounds great, Will. He really does...Now all we need is someone for me..." Buffy made a pouty face.

"What about Angel?" Willow suggested.

/♦Angel! How does Willow know about Angel. I thought only I knew his name...Last time we talked about him, Willow didn't know his name...♦/ Apparently Buffy's confused thoughts mirrored the look on her face.

"What?" Willow asked, looking concerned.

"Huh? Oh, I just...I thought you didn't know his name." Buffy replied.

"Oh, Oz was talkiang about him today, and..wait...How do you know his name?" Willow asked, clearly confused.

Buffy trapped herself. She didn't want to keep anymore secrets from Willow, or anybody for that matter. She would have to tell her about her encounter with Angel that night almost a week earlier.

"Well..One night around midnight a few days ago..." Buffy started cautiously. "I felt all weird and tingly, like something supernatural was going on. So I got up, and went to the east wing where I felt extra tingly-"

"Isn't the east wing closed for renovation or something?" Willow interrupted.

"Yeah, it is. Anyway, I ran into Angel outside. He introduced himself and he told me that he knew that I was Chosen and what my destiny was, and stuff like that. Of course, I denied it, and said I didn't know what he was talking about. "Buffy paused to see if she still held her freind's attention. Judging from the eager look in her green eyes, she'd say she did. She continued:

"Then he said something like 'I hope you'll accept your destiny when it matters most.' Weird, huh?" Willow nodded a 'yes'.

Buffy was on a roll, so she decided to tell Willow about the other weird things she saw that night: The caged thing, the two dark figures, the crawling shadows...

"It was the strangest thing." Buffy replied.

"I image so. From what you described it as, it sounded like some weird nightmare." Willow said.

"I wish it was...I don't have to deal with nightmares. But it wasn't a nightmare."

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Yes, it's a short chapter...the next one will probably be longer. Please review!


	12. Chapter 12 A Disturbing Phone Call

Buffy and Willow looked up at the sound of someone entering the dorm. It was Dawn, of course.

"Hey, uh, you have people looking for you." Dawn replied awkwardly. She stepped aside, and Oz entered the room. Willow smiled and waved him in. Someone unexpected walked in after him...Angel.

Buffy's heart was doing little somersaults. "What are you doing here?" She asked Angel.

Angel shrugged. When it became obvious that he wasn't going to answer, Oz stepped in. "He insisted that I bring him by here."

Angel finally spoke up. "I wanted to talk to you, Buffy...Alone." He added.

Buffy was secretly rejoicing as she got up off the bed and headed towards the door. She stepped outside and Angel followed her.

"Hey," Buffy crossed her arms and gave him a curious look.

"Hey...I guess you're wondering why I wanted to talk to you." Angel replied. Buffy nodded. "Well, I feel bad for upsetting you the other night...I came on a little strong..." He admitted. "And I just want to make sure that you don't think I'm a freaky stalker or anything like that...And I could make it up to you, if you want." He added, with just a hint of shyness in his voice.

A small smile crept slowly onto Buffy's face. "Sure...There's a thousand things I could ask you right now...but I think I'll just let them go and invite you in to meet my friends." She replied slyly. Angel grinned and followed her back into the room, where Dawn was throwing question after question at Oz about his band.

"Who came up with the name for your band? How long have you played guitar? Do you have lot of groupies?" Dawn asked in one breath. Oz chuckled softly to himself.

"I guess I can just skip the part about getting to know him. I'll just let you do it for me." Willow smiled at Dawn.

Buffy and Angel had no sooner sat down on Buffy's bed when the phone rang shrilly. Buffy leaned over Angel and picked it up.

"Hello?" She greeted. A click sounded on the other end, and a voice came on. It sounded like a recording.

"Hello, it's me, your principal..."He stalled. "This is an urgent messge. We need you and whoever else is in your room at the moment to stay where you are. Don't be alarmed...But there's a murderer hiding somewhere on campus...Just stay put and- oh, lock your doors."

Another click was heard, signalling the end of the message. Buffy put the phone back in the cradle.

"Dawn.." She began. "Go lock the door."

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Please review! Thanx.


	13. Chapter 13 A familiar Face

Chapter 13- A Familiar Face

A/N: Yes, there are MORE skittles...teehee.

A REAL A/N: There is a little bit of violence in this chapter. Nothing big, but just a lil warning.

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"Dawn, go lock the door."

Dawn was confused, but seeing her sister's seriousness, she got off the bed and did as she was told. "Buffy, what's going on?" She asked nervously.

"Well...There's a murderer on campus somewhere. Mr. Gaffety wants us to stay put." Buffy replied.

"Even us?" Oz asked, as she motioned to Angel and himself.

"Yeah. I guess we're stuck here."

There was an uncomfortable silence. Oz and Angel began to exchange glances. Buffy caught onto this and responded like they had said something.

"What's wrong?" Buffy asked.

"Nothing." Angel defended.

Buffy raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Well...nothing really." Angel rephrased.

"Tell me..."

"Well," Oz started. "I kinda already knew about the hellmouth."

"Why did you let us explain the whole thing to you last night then? And who told you?" Buffy asked, obviously surprised.

"Angel told me, and I wasn't sure if he wanted me to act like I didn't know, so I just...did." Oz replied casually.

"So.." Willow said, trying to clear the awkwardness that hung in the air. "What's your story, Angel? I mean, how did you find out about the hellmouth?"

Angel cleared his throat. "Well...my parents were both killed by vampires two years ago, and I've been living with my very-strict aunt and uncle -when I'm not here, that is." He paused. "I like to fight vampires when I can, because...well, it feels like I'm avenging my parents' death. And that's a good feeling, especially to someone who could never live up to his parents' expectations...Someone like me." Angel added.

Buffy felt sorry for him. Apparently it showed in her facial expression, because Angel was hasty to say: "Don't feel sorry for me, please."

"But..." Buffy protested. "Okay...It just seems like you had a really tough life."

"I did. But I got over it, and I'm fine." Angel replied.

Buffy couldn't help but notice how cold and stern he sounded. But if he was touchy on the subject of his life, she would try not to bring it up.

Another dead silence hung in the air- until Buffy remembered something. "Hey! I have tons of candy stored up from the vending machine in the hall." She replied happily.

"Oh, yeah! She's like a chipmunk storing nuts for the winter when it comes to candy." Dawn rolled her eyes playfully. Buffy grinned slyly and hopped off the bed to tend to her secret stash. She returned carrying an armload if candy- most of which were skittles. Willow reached over and grabbed a bag.

"I want the red ones." Oz said to Willow.

Willow made a sad puppy dog face and said "But...I want the red ones..they're the best."

"Agreed. We can share." replied Oz. Willow smiled and dumped out the contents of her skittle bag onto the bed and began to sort out the red ones. Dawn came over and quickly popped the green ones in her mouth.

"Green is the best." She mumbled, her mouth full with skittles.

"What's your favorite skittle flavor?" Buffy asked Angel, who seemed confused by the others' behavior.

"Uh...I've never had one before."

Oz, Willow and Dawn looked up from their sugar-coated candy. Buffy's mouth dropped open in surprise.

"Never?" She asked. Angel shook his head. She smiled and handed him the bag.

"Try one." Buffy prodded. "Come on, do it for me." She smiled seductively. He reluctantly put one in his mouth, then smiled.

"No one can resist them." Buffy said with a grin.

"I can't argue with you there." said Angel.

Buffy gave him a dazzling smile. He thought she looked even more beautiful with wisps of stray blonde hair blowing across her face from the breeze blowing in from the open window...

The five continued to laugh and joke around, until sunset rolled around, and Buffy became nervous.

"It's eight o'clock..you'd think Mr. Gaffety would call or something to let us know if the murderer is gone..." Buffy pondered aloud.

"Maybe he's still on campus." Willow replied, looking worried. Oz wrapped his arms around her comfortingly.

There was a quiet, rustling sound outside the window. It gradually became louder and louder. Buffy's keen Slayer senses picked up the sound, and she got up to see what it was. While she was walking that way, a loud banging noise right outside the window stopped her in her tracks. It was loud enough for everyone else in the room to hear it, as well. Buffy was frozen in place, fear stricken. It was an unusual feeling to her, being the Slayer.

Suddenly, a pair of dirty, bleeding hands appeared, clutching the window sill tightly. Seconds later, a ragged face appeared. The man looked to be about thirty years old, and he had cold, lifeless hazel eyes with flecks of burning amber. They were very distinct looking. Buffy recognized them immediately...

_A fifteen year old Buffy stood on the doorstep of an apartment building. She knocked on her Watcher's door for about the tenth time. There was no answer. The sun was just beginning to set, making her antsy. There was a dramatic increase in the undead population lately, and her senses wre going crazy. She could tell they were waking. She pounded on the door again, hoping for any kind of a response._

_When she received none, she decided to try the door; she was sure Giles wouldn't mind. It was open. ♦Odd...♦ She thought. She pushed the door open and slipped into Giles' apartment. It was looking slightly trashed. Giles was a total neat-freak, so it was unusual to see anything out of place. She walked in further and closed the door behind her._

_"Giles?" She tried_

_Dead silence._

_Maybe he was out... ♦ But why would he leave his door open?♦ She pondered. ♦ Maybe he's upstairs..♦ Giles had a big apartment, which included a second level. She slowly walked up the staircase. At the top, there was a hallway with about three doors._

_"Giles?" She asked again. She walked past the first room, the door of which was open. Buffy looked in, only to see a dark figure exiting through the window. It looked like a big, moving shadow. Buffy could feel a sick knot twisting itself in her gut. She was too terrified to move, or make any attempt to stop it._

_Then the figure looked up, revealing it's large, human, yet abnormal looking hazel-red eyes. Buffy made eye contact with it, and she would forever have the vision of it's eyes burning in the back of her mind. Then, it dropped from the window sill and she could hear it faintly hit the grass below and start running._

_When the shock finally wore off, Buffy remembered that Giles wasn't the house. Or maybe...He was. The knot in her stomach continued to grow with every step she took towards Giles' room._

_When she reached the door, she didn't even bother to knock. She just pushed the door aside and peered in. There he was. Confirming her worst fears.- Rupert Giles, her faithful Watcher who had been like a father figure to her, lay on his bed, one arm outstretched towards the door and where she was standing. The knife used to painfully end his life, stood erect in his stomach. At least there would be something the police could dust for fingerprints... There was fresh blood spilling over his shirt and onto the carpet below. His glassy green eyes were fixed on her. If she could manage to make it to the phone she could call the police..._

Buffy snapped back into reality, just as the figure dissappeared from the window. Buffy ran up to the window and looked out. She could make out the outline of his figure in the semi-darkness, running across the campus. She felt an odd urge to jump out the window and follow him- to make him pay for what he did to her Watcher. But she knew better. She was the Slayer, but she was built for taking on demons and the undead. Sure, it would be easy to go after him...But she didn't kill humans, and she was afraid that if she went after him, she might kill him in the heat of the moment. So just stared outside until she couldn't see him anymore, then closed the window. She turned to face her friends, who were suddenly standing all around her by the window.

"What was that all about?" Dawn asked.

"Huh?" What?" Buffy was confused.

"That guy, I'm presuming he's the murderer, just tried to climb through the window while you were off in la-la land." Dawn sounded upset.

"Huh? He did...I was...Sorry." Buffy mumbled, slightly embarrassed.

"It's okay." Dawn's feature's softened. "I just thought we lost you for a second...we scared him off."

"How?"

"We...threw skittles at him." Willow replied sheepishly.

"Go you! Skittles are very versatile..." Buffy replied with a small smile. She jumped when the phone rang loudly through out the room. She reached over and picked up the phone.

There was a click on the other line. Another recorded messge.

Buffy sat there, listening to the message. About one minute later, she hung up with a smile on her face.

"Apparently the murderer was running off the campus when he ran staight into a block-ade of poilce officers and was arrested."

"Wow."

"Yeah, I guess you guys can go if you want..." Buffy trailed off.

"Sure. You can try to get rid of us, but we'll be back." Oz promised with a smile. Willow, Buffy and Dawn bid them good-bye.

"So...What really happened back there? When you were zoned out?" Willow asked.

"I think the murderer was the guy who killed my Watcher two years ago." replied Buffy.

"Oh...I'm sorry." Willow said. Buffy had told her what had happened with her Watcher when she was telling her about the Hellmouth. "How did you know it was him?"

"His eyes. I've never seen eyes like his before, and I don't think I ever will again...At least I hope not, anyway."

"Me too. That was really creepy." replied Dawn.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm kinda tired." Willow replied.

"Me too. The guys wore me out..." Buffy smiled slyly.

Buffy crawled into bed. As she feared, the image of those eyes were still in the back of her mind. She hoped they would fade away, so she could get some rest.

The girls went to sleep early- with the window shut and tightly sealed.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Yes, I know I kinda copied Angel's real past...Except in my fic, the vamps killed his parents two years ago, not two-hundred. Please review!

Skittles, taste the rainbow...;)


	14. Chapter 14 A Concerned Friend

Chapter 14- A Concerned Friend

Angel and Oz walked down the school hallway in silence. It wasn't the kind of comfortable silence that two friends shared. It was the kind of awkward silence that most people dreaded. To Oz, Angel seemed more distance than usual. Neither of the men talked much, or showed emotion, but Oz was smart, and could tell that something was up with him. Maybe Oz would talk to Buffy later...

It was 6:30PM and Buffy was stretched across her bed trying to concentrate on her latest assignment. She tapped her pencil against her temples trying to come up with a starting sentence for her essay. The soft, murmuring of rain in the roof was making her sleepy. She was alone. Willow was at the library, getting some books for a research paper of her own, and Dawn was out shopping at the mall with her new friends. She had told Buffy that she wanted to buy a new outfit for some thing that she was going to on Saturday night. Dawn had assured it was an on campus thing and that she would be safe, so Buffy gave her some of the money her mother had left with them.

Buffy smiled softly, glad that her sister was fitting in and making friends. They had only been at the school for two weeks, but Buffy felt comfortable there as well. Soft knocking on the door interrupted her thoughts.

"Come in." She replied.

The door opened and Oz appeared in the doorway.

"Oh, hey." Buffy sat up. "Are you looking for Willow?"

"No, actually. I wanted to talk to you about something."

Buffy nodded for him to go on.

"Well, I've been noticing that Angel's been acting odd. He has been since we left here last night."

Buffy sat quietly, thinking. "You know, I don't think he said anything after we saw that creep in the window."

"He didn't. I'm kinda worried about him. He won't talk to me about whatever's on his mind, so I figured he might talk to you." replied Oz.

"Maybe...I can probably go talk to him sometime tonight. I need to atleast get a starting sentence to _this_" Buffy motioned disgustingly to her paper. "Were's Willow when you need her?..."

Buffy noticed how Oz's face lit up at just the mention of her name. It was the first emotion he showed since entering her dorm...Actually it was the first emotion she'd ever seen him show.

"Well, I'll see what I can do." Buffy said kindly.

Oz smiled. "Thanks. Come to our dorm when you're ready. It's number 213. I'll make sure he's there." He paused at the doorway. "Oh, and tell Willow I said hi" With that, he was gone.

Buffy glanced at her clock. She would go see Angel at seven. She had half an hour to to come up with something-anything to start her paper with.

♦♦♦Meanwhile at the mall...♦♦♦

Dawn, Shauna, Casey and Jaime strolled through the mall, stopping in just about every store. They had already walked through half the mall and if you looked through Dawn's wallet, it would show. She had only bought two things so far: a purple babydoll top from Aeropostale and Cali Flare jeans from Hollister. They were really nice clothes, although they did a number on the cash supply Buffy gave her to use.

The four girls walked into Claires for accessories. Dawn was looking at a rack decorated with colorful rings when a thought occured to her. She already had a ring. That one she found in the dresser drawer in her dorm. It would match her outfit perfectly.

♦ At least it'll save me some money. I don't wanna go back to Buffy completely broke...♦ She thought. Jaime walked up to her, holding a pair of gold dangle earrings.

"What do you think?" She asked.

"They're nice. Really pretty." Dawn told her honestly.

"K, I'll get them. Thanks." She quickly dissappeared in the crowd, probably going to pay for the gold accessories.

Dawn pulled her wallet out of her black denim purse. She opened it and sifted through the money she had in it. She had stared out with a very generous one hundred and ten dollars and was left with a grand total of twenty-four dollars. Lunch had cost her fifteen dollars, bringing down her money count as well. She hoped Buffy wouldn't kill her when she got back...

♦♦♦Back at school...♦♦♦

Buffy shifted nervously from foot to foot in front of room 213. She knew she had nothing to worry about, but...If something was wrong with Angel and she could get him to tell her, she _knew _it would be something she didn't want to hear. At least she had one thing to comfort her: Willow had come back fro the library and helped her start her paper. ♦ What would I do without her?♦. She smiled, thinking what a great friend she had in that shy, red-head.

Realizing she had been standing infront of the door for three minutes, she decided to make her presence known. She slowly brought her fist to the door and banged on it.

"Come in." Was the only reply. She couldn't tell if it was Angel or Oz who had said it, but she walked into the room. Both Angel and Oz were there. Oz stood up.

"I'm gonna go...see Willow." He smiled and threw a 'good luck' look Buffy's way. He left the room. Buffy felt a knot tighten in her stomach.

"Uh, hey." Buffy greeted awkwardly.

"Hey." He returned.

" I just came by to see-"

"I know," He cut her off. "Why you're here. Oz told you he was concerned right?"

"Yup." Buffy gazed at her feet and rocked nervously on her heels.

"I know more than I let on." Angel said with a grin.

"I guess so." replied Buffy. "So, are you gonna tell me what's on your mind?" She asked hopefully.

"On one condition."

"And what's that?" She asked.

"No interruptions. If I'm going ot say it, I want to get it out fast. No stopping."

"Okay. Agreed. Now what's up?" She asked.

He patted the empty spot on the bed beside him. She walked over and sat down. "Where do I begin?..."

♦♦♦♦

Yesss, another cliffhanger. Hey hey hey now! What did I say about throwing things? Yes, that means you, ... ;)Thanx to everyone who had reviewed so far, I'm glad you like it! I'll do my best to update soon. :)


	15. Chapter 15 No More Secrets

"Where do I begin?..." he took a sharp breath of air in and let it out slowly."Uhm, well...the, uh, m-murderer last night was my...well, I knew him."

Buffy looked puzzled. "Wow. How'd you know him? He was your..." She prodded.

"He was my...step-brother." He replied. Buffy took a good look at his hands, which were shaking. He appeared calm and casual on the outside, but to her, he looked like a nervous wreck. She gently took both of his hands in hers.

"And?" She pushed softly.

Angel stared at their hands entwined. He took another deep breath and continued, this time his voice sounded more steady. "Well, my real mom died when I was about two and my dad re-married three years later to the woman I call my mother. She already had a child, my step-brother, Derek." He seemed to cringe saying his name. "When my parents were killed by vampires two years ago, Derek's emotional stability collapsed and he became a complete wreck." He paused.

"Wow." Buffy breathed. Then her hand quickly flew to her mouth. "Oops." She mumbled. She forgot she wasn't supposed to interrupt.

"Ah, it's okay. Don't worry about it." He grinned warmly, then continued. It was tough...And things went from bad to worse when Derek decided to go after the vamps who killed our mom and dad. I would've tried to stop him from going, but I was out with a friend." He took yet another stabilizing breath, before diving into something that was probably hard fro him to tell. "He was killed that night- and turned into a vampire."

Buffy comfortingly tightened her grip on his hands. "I remember his funeral. Everyone was sad, and mourning...but I was angry and repulsed."

"Repulsed?" She whispered incredulously.

He just nodded. "I knew what he would become at sundown the day. And I should've been waiting right there with a stake to end it all...But I couldn't. Not to my own brother. Even though he wasn't my _real_ brother, it didn't mean..." He trailed off.

"I understand." Buffy said softly.

"I already knew about vampires and the undead here in Sunnydale. I found out when Derek and I moved here to live with our aunt and uncle. We had lived in Sunnydale all of our lives, but two years ago, when all of this happened, we moved closer to the center of the town.

"Not a good idea. In doing that you moved yourself even closer to the hellmouth..." replied Buffy.

"Yeah, but...it moved me closer to you, too." He said softly. She smiled sweetly at him. Slowly he moved in closer when...

RRIINNGG!

Buffy backed away, groaning. ♦Stupid phone.♦ She grabbed her cell phone out of it's case on her hip and flipped it open.

"Hello?" She replied less than cheerfully. _pause._ "Oh." _pause_ "No, it's fine." _pause_ "Ok, I'll see you then, bye." She hung up the phone.

Angel looked at her questioningly.

"It was Dawn. She just wanted to let me know that she was going to be a little late coming home. Apparently hanging out with your friends is way cooler than hanging out with your older sister." She mentally debated whether or not to try to kiss him, but she let ot go. The moment was gone.

Angel shrugged. "It's normal."

"Yeah, I know." replied Buffy. "Now C'mon. Let's hear the rest of your story. Pleeeease?"

"Well, since you asked so nicely..." He gave her a small grin. "After he was turned he kept coming after me. He was most likely trying to turn me too. But that's how I found out about you. One night he just mentioned the Slayer, and then told me about you. "

"Li'l ole me." said Buffy.

"Yeah. That's pretty much it."

"Wow. I'm...sorry. Lame, yes, but there's not really anything else to say..." She trailed off.

"I understand. I-"

The shrill ring of her phone interrupted him.

"Sorry." Buffy said before flipping her phone open.

"Hello?" _pause_ "Oh, ok." _pause_ "I'll be there in a sec." _pause_ "Bye." She flipped her phone shut.

"It was Willow. Dawn's back and I have to go be big sis and yell at her for spending too much at the mall." Buffy got up off the bed.

"How do you know she spent too much?" Angel asked.

"I just know. We have weird sister vibes or something. Like ESP." She grinned as she headed to the door. "Do you want me to, like, not tell anyone about this?"

He shrugged. "I don't mind." He paused. "And thanks for listening to me. It was a good way to vent. I needed to tell someone and.." He trailed off.

"No problem. But promise me one thing." She said.

"Sure, what?"

"No more secrets."

"Agreed. No more secrets." He replied.

"Ok, well, I'll talk to you later..."

"Bye."

"Bye..." Buffy walked out and closed the door behind her. She wished they had decided to seal their little promise with a kiss.

♦ It would've been more official...♦

She was slightly upset that he didn't kiss her, yet she couldn't keep a silly grin from spreading across her face at the mere though of him.

♦I've got it bad.♦ She realized. But maybe that wasn't such a bad thing after all.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Pleeeeeeeeeeease review. Yup. That's what I have to say. ;)


	16. Chapter 16 Tight Budget

Buffy opened her dorm door. She spotted Dawn sitting on her bed looking guilty.

"How much?" Buffy asked as she leaned on the doorway.

"Huh?" Dawn eyes snapped up and fixed on her sister.

"How much did you spend?" Buffy moved out of the doorway and closed the door behind her. Willow was sitting cross-legged on her bed. She couldn't help but feel bad for Dawn. She had told Willow how much she spent at the mall and she had a feeling but Buffy would be less than thrilled.

"Um, w-well..." Dawn tried not to sound nervous, but the shakiness in her voice clearly said she was.

Buffy's hard features softened a bit and she went to sit by Dawn on the bed.

"Um, well..I have twenty-four dollars left..."

Buffy's eyes widened and she bit her tongue to keep herself from screaming.

"I'm sorry!" Dawn shot up off the bed and backed away from her sister.

"It's okay." Bufffy said through gritted teeth. She let out a deep breath. "Just don't let it happen again. You know we're on a tight bugdet." She said sternly.

"I'm sorry. " She repeated. "I just wanted a nice outfit for tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? What's tomorrow? Saturday?" Buffy asked, clearly confused.

"There's this party in the basement and-"

"Party? Will there be adult supervision?" Bufffy cut in. She had switched into Protective Sister Mode..._over_ protective one could say.

"Sure. If I'm going to the 'My Pretty Pocket Protecter party.'"

Buffy crossed her arms and gave Dawn a look.

"What? I'm fifteen. And this is a _school_ basement. How bad could it be?"

"Bad enough. Don't forget that your sitting on the mouth of hell." replied Buffy.

Dawn rolled her eyes. "I won't...Can I go?"

"Fine...Only because you already bought the outift. Or I could make you return them..." Buffy pondered aloud.

"Nope. I ripped and threw away the receipts." Dawn said with a slight hint of pride in her voice.

"You _must_ be my sister..." Buffy grinned as well.

The three girls talked, studied and did homework for another hour or so before heading to bed. Dawn could barely contain her anitcipation for tomorrow night. When she finally fell asleep her dreams revolved around parties, guys and red skittles...

000000000000

Skittles...heehee. Please review!


	17. Chapter 17 Before the Party

"Dawn? Wake up." Buffy was softly nudging her little sister, who was sleeping like a rock.

'Mmm...Nooo..." Dawn mumbled before turning onto her stomach and pulling her pillow over her head.

"Come on. If you don't get up soon you won't have time to get ready for class." Buffy tried again to get her out of bed.

"I don't care!" She shouted. It came out as a muffled whine.

"Dawn! God, you're so grumpy in the morning. You _need_ to get up and get ready. Mom will kill me if she finds out you were late for _one_ class." Buffy rolled Dawn over.

"Why? It's Saturday!"

"Yeah, and you still have school. But only 'til noon."

"Thank God." Dawn mumbled before finally giving in and dragging herself out of her nice, warm bed. She trugded into the bathroom to do her routine wash-up. While standing in front of the mirror and fiddling with her hair she remembered what she was doing that night. A smile spread across her face and lit up her features. She strode out of the bathroom practically glowing. Buffy and Willow just watched her in confusion, not saying anything.

That smile never left Dawn's face through her five classes of the short, weekend school day. On her way to the cafeteria she ran into Xander. To the casual observer it was an average two second meeting. To Dawn it was the stepping stones of a not-yet-existing-but-soon-to-be relationship between the two of them. Dawn recalled their encounter, the smile on her face only growing.

_Dawn walked swifly through the school hallway when someone came up beside her and barely brushed against her upper arm. She turned to see who it was. Him._

_"Oh, h-hi Xander" she replied nervously._

_"Hey Dawn." He gave her a cute loop-sided grin before turning left into a smaller hallway branching out of the main one. _

She sighed, remembering how cute that smile was. Before she knew it she was standing infront of her, Jaime, Shauna and Casey's usual table. They weren't there yet. Dawn slid her purple bookbag strap off of her shoulder and dropped it on the floor beside her chair. She was about to go up into the food line when the three girls appeared, each carrying a lunch tray.

Dawn opened her mouth to tell them that she was going to go get her food when Shauna beat her to it.

"Here, Dawn. We got you some food. It's your usual stuff." Shauna sat down and pulled the second plate off her tray. Sure enough, there was a turkey sandwhich, a bag of chips, a banana, a coke and a small cup of green jell-o. Dawn had always liked jell-o. Somone had told her that it was made from ground up cows feet and that there were cows somewhere limping around with no feet. But she was sure they killed the cows before someone cut their feet off...

"Thanks. I didn't know they let people get lunch for someone else." Dawn accepted the plate and sat down.

"They usually don't, but if you bug 'em enough they'll let you." replied Casey.

"We saw you talking to Xander a few minutes ago."Jaime said slyly.

Dawn tried not to blush. "Yeah...so?"

"We also saw the way you were looking at him."

"Oh."

"It's okay. I mean, he is pretty cute- In a goofy and charming sorta way." replied Jaime. The other two girls nodded their heads in agreement.

"Yeah, but he's a _Junior_." Shauna said, emphasizing her point.

"True. He'd be better suited with my sister." Dawn joked, but secretly dreaded the thought that Xander could have feelings for Buffy.

"But he's going out with Cordelia." Casey replied. That's right. He was. Dawn felt slightly jealous. She knew she could never compare to the beautiful Cordelia.

Dawn sighed. "Oh well. I can dream right?"

All four girls giggled.

"So, are you psyched about tonight?" Jaime asked.

All three girls nodded.

"I can't wait!" Dawn smiled.

"I know. We're gonna be the hottest girls there." Casey replied with a flip of her hair. The dance was only a freshman thing. There were different nights for different grades.

"I bet I can get Dave to dance with me." replied Shauna.

"I bet _I_ can get him to dance with me first." Jaime countered.

"Deal." Shauna reached across the table and grabbed Jaime's hand, sealing the deal.

The girls continued talking until the bell rang and they went outside to study.

\/\/ In Mr. Gaffety's office...\/\/

Mr. Gaffety spun around in his swivel chair, facing his desk which was currently buried under stacks of books. Mr. Jones, his secretary walked into the room with a red covered book in his hands.

"Here." He flipped the book open to a page he'd marked. "I believe this is the name of what it is you're looking for."

Mr. Gaffety looked over the page for a long while before replying: "Good work, Mr. Jones. This is it. The Gem of Amara." He grinned widely.


	18. Chapter 18 Party's Over

Chapter 18- Party's Over

_A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in forever. I've been at SFA working on a fic with another author there, and now that fic has been posted here. It's _Soak Up the Sun_ by VampGrlz, you're welcome to check it out...please do! And...yeah D_

Dawn looked herself up and down in the full length mirror by her dresser. She smiled approvingly. She looked hot. But she still needed to find a pair of shoes. She didn't buy any at the mall for two reasons:Money, and she thought she already had a good pair. That good pair was no where to be found. Dawn checked under the beds, under the dresser and in the closet. She sighed in defeat. She could 'borrow' a pair of Buffy's heels, but decided she wanted to live past fifteen. Buffy was out patrolling with Angel and Willow was in the library studying with Oz.

_If that's what she wants to call it._ She thought with a grin. She knew the red-headed couple would be doing everything _but _studying.

She picked up a pair of slightly worn purple and blue flip-flops and eyed them critically. They were sort of thick and would give her some height.

_These are no Guccis, but they'll have to do. Hey, atleast they match my outfit. _

Dawn slid her feet into the shoes.There was only one more thing she needed to make her outfit perfect. She pulled open the top drawer of the dresser and lifted up the pile of clothes in the very left with one hand and grabbed the ring with the other. She slipped it on her finger and admired the way it shone so beautifully. Tearing her eyes away from the ring, she glanced over at the clock on the wall. It was 8:50P.M. Her friends would be knocking any minute now.

As if on cue, there was a loud rapping on the door. Dawn opened the door and greeted the three girls.

"Hey!" She said, smiling.

"Hey" Jamie replied. There was a moment of silence when the girls looked over Dawn's clothes, and she took in theirs.

Jaime was wearing a beaded cami that was a forest green with hints of golden yellow and a pair of dressy jeans. She also had plenty of accessories, including those pretty gold dangle earrings she bought at the mall. Shauna had on a lavendar halter top with a pink, purple and white striped skirt. Casey was wearing a tight, brown, lacy shirt with a destroyed denim mini-skirt.

"You guys look great!" Dawn said, smiling.

"You too." Casey replied.

"Nice ring." Jaime said, admiring the ring.

"Thanks. I found it actually." Dawn replied, smiling.

"Now, c'mon, we're keeping everyone waiting." Jaime said tugging on Dawn's arm. Dawn gave her a confused look.

"A party's not a party without us!" Jaime continued to pull Dawn out of the dorm until she was walking beside them. She walked through halls, into branching halls, into halld branching from those, until finally they were in a dark and almost forgotten looking hallway. At the end of the hallway there was a gray painted wooden door. Dawn could hear strains of an upbeat song coming through the walls if she listened hard enough.

"This is it." Jaime said, confirming to Dawn that this was the spot. She opened the door and led the way to the bottom of the twisting stairs until the full basement was in sight. There were colorful streamers hanging from the ceiling and strung across walls. Some alternative music was booming from the speakers. It sounded like Green Day. It was pretty loud too. Dawn wondered why the faculty never stopped the parties- they must hear the music playing so loud... . There were freshman everywhere. Some dancing, some talking, some getting punch, some making out. Dawn felt a flutter of nervousness in her stomach, but Jaime had a hold of her arm again and was gently guiding her into the crowd.

"Look!" There's Dave!" Shauna half-shouted over the noise. Sure enough, there was Dave standing by the punch bowl surrounded by drooling freshman girls.

"C'mon." Jaime said, once again pulling Dawn. This time they were heading towards the punch bowl and the group of girls.

"But-" Dawn protested to no avail. Soon they were right in front of Dave and in the middle of the group of gaggling girls.

"Hey, Dave." Jaime said, batting her eyelashes and moving closer to Dave.

"Hey..." But Dave wasn't looking at Jaime. His gaze was fixated on Dawn, who was looking around, trying to avoid his gaze.

"Who's your friend?" Dave asked Jaime.

"Who? Her?" Jaime motioned towards Dawn. She tried not to sound upset that he wasn't staring at her like that.

"Yeah."

Jaime reached back and pulled Dawn up next to her.

"This is my friend, Dawn. Dawn, this is Dave." Jaime smiled through her teeth before briskly walking off to join Casey and Shauna by the punch bowl.

"Uh...hi." Dawn replied awkwardly.

"Hey." Dave returned. He offered her a cup of punch. She took it reluctantly, almost afraid it was drugged or something.

"Wanna dance?" Dave asked suddenly.

"Sure..." Dawn said. He led them both out into the middle of the room where other couples and friends were dancing. An upbeat song was playing and she and Dave got into it pretty quickly. Dawn could almost feel Jaime's icy glare on her. She was having such a good time with Dave...But she didn't want her only friends to get mad at her. So she ended the dance and told Dave she'd see him around.

"Hey, guys." Dawn said as she walked up to Jaime, Casey and Shauna.

"Hey." Casey replied, smiling. Jaime seemed to be the only one upset about Dawn and Dave's dance. "I guess both Shauna i and /i Jaime lost their bet to dance with Dave." She pointed out.

"The night's not over yet." Jaime replied, heading back over to where Dave was.

Shauna, Casey and Dawn just shrugged. Jaime just needed her alone time they guessed. The three girls headed to the center of the room and danced together for a while before getting a drink at the punchbowl. Jaime was in the center of the circle of girls around Dave and she was doing some serious flirting. Dave seemed unphased, though. When he saw Dawn he gave her a small smile. Jaime was upset and turned to see who he smiled at, but Dawn was already back on the dance floor with Shauna and Casey.

Dawn looked over and saw a odd looking guy take a girl into a dark room and close the door behind them. _They're probably going to make out_ Dawn thought. But that guy did seem pretty weird...For one thing, he needed a tip on style. His clothes looked like they came from the seventies or something...She felt strangely obligated to make sure everything was okay in there. _My sister's the one who's the Slayer, not me_ Dawn reminded herself.

Still, she decided to check it out.

"I'll be right back." Dawn told Casey and Shauna, who were too busy dancing wildy for all the guys there to really care. Dawn drifted over to the room. She suddenly realized how bright the lights were and how loud the music was...It was giving her a head-ache. When she reached the room, she leaned on the door and listened for any voices. She heard some scuffling around and things moving, scraping on the floor. She heard a female voice whimpering.

They were either doing some serious making out, or something was seriously wrong. Dawn knocked on the door and listened for a response of any kind. There was nothing but silence. Then there was hurried scuffles and noises. The creepy guy opened the door and peered out.

"D-do you need something?" He asked.

"Well, I know the girl you took in there, and I wanted to talk to her." Dawn lied.

"Oh, you know Jackie?" He asked.

"Uh, yeah." Dawn peered into the room, trying to look past him.

"Is she in there?" Dawn asked.

"Uhh...yeah. You can come in." The man said.

Dawn's instincts were screaming at her to get the hell away from this guy, he's not normal. But she thought she saw a huddled form in the corner of the room. She had to help that poor girl. So Dawn entered the room, immediately heading toward the figure in the corner.

"Where are you going?" The man asked. The light in the room was decreasing as he slowly closed the door, trapping them in the room. The man walked closer and Dawn could see his fangs. And that's when she realized that she didn't have a stake. She didn't have any type of weapon for that matter.

"Damn." She cursed under her breath. She was going to make a run for the door, but the man leapt forward and grabbed her by the hair, tilting her neck towards his face. She could feel his fangs brush against the skin on her neck. For a moment, she thought about screaming, but she knew no one would hear her over the music.

She whimpered as the fangs dug into her neck. Her last thought before losing consciousness was how badly Buffy would feel, having her own sister die of something that was her destiny to destroy.

Sorry it was so short! Ozlover


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